Police to blame for delay at arena, says ex-fire chief
THE head of the fire service at the time of Manchester Arena bombing says he will ‘always regret’ the delay in firefighters attending the aftermath of the atrocity - but has laid the blame at the door of the police.
Peter O’Reilly was chief fire officer at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service on May 22 last year, when 22 people were murdered and hundreds more injured.
Firefighters attended more than two hours after the attack - even though crews heard the blast and were stationed just half a mile away.
A report prepared by Lord Kerslake, published in March, was critical of the fire service’s response after the blast, describing the failure by those at the top of the organisation as ‘extraordinary’ and ‘incredible.’
Dawn Docx, the interim chief fire officer of GMFRS, who replaced Mr O’Reilly, later apologised unreservedly for the failures under the previous leadership.
But Belfast-born Mr O’Reilly, speaking for the first time about the incident, says although he will ‘always regret’ that fire crews were not there within minutes, the service was left in an ‘information vacuum’ because Greater Manchester Police did not follow established protocols and national guidelines on how emergency services should work together during terror attacks.
GMP say they cannot currently comment on the claims due the ongoing legal and coroner’s inquest process. Mr O’Reilly has also claimed that amid reports of a possible ‘active shooter’ at the scene, police did not liaise with fire and ambulance officials to help them assess the threat level and deploy crews accordingly.
This led the fire service to hold back, assembling at a distance in case of an escalating firearms attack.
Mr O’Reilly criticised the Kerslake Report’s examination of the emergency response, saying it failed to properly question how police acted against guidelines.
He told The Irish News: “On the night in question, I believe the fire service should have been there.
“We had worked very, very closely with our colleagues in the ambulance service to train our firefighters up. We had trained our staff up to respond to terrorist attacks.
“They weren’t able to do that, simply because police didn’t live up to their responsibilities of having a conversation with the fire service. If they did, we would have been there.”
Mr O’Reilly, aged 51, retired earlier this year from his £155,000 post as chief fire officer.
The Kerslake Report concluded the fire service was left ‘outside of the loop’ of the police and ambulance emergency response and said that ‘strategic oversights’ by police commanders led to confusion with other 999 services over whether an ‘active shooter’ was on the loose.
Salman Abedi detonated his home-made device at 10.31pm on May 22 last year, in the foyer of Manchester Arena, as 14,000 people streamed out at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.
Armed police and 12 ambulances were on the scene within 20 minutes but there was a shortage of stretchers to ferry the injured from the foyer to a casualty area on the station concourse.
The panel of experts who authored the Kerslake Report state they are not able to say whether earlier arrival of the fire service would have ‘affected any casualty’s survivability.’